Corina Woods rated Tattoo Factory 5 stars
a month ago
I had a horrible experience with this tattoo shop. I got a red Japanese tattoo on my ankle, and from the start the artist was very rude. I believe his name was Joe, an older thin man. I originally wanted to tattoo on my waist just below my belly, but I was nervous about the placement. Instead of being patient, I was being rushed. To shave the area around my stomach he was urging me to pull my pants down lower to give him room to shave. This was fine, but his attitude wasn't. I kept assuring him that I was only nervous. He responded by saying "Well we don't have any curtains for privacy and if you wanted that you should've went to another shop." Again I was very understanding of his direction, but the way he conveyed it was very harsh and unnecessary. I have many tattoos and none of my artists were ever rude. I get it, we all have jobs and want to be over with it, but a client trusts an artist to permanently alter their skin, the least the artist can do is show a little patience. I changed the placement of the tattoo to my ankle. It was extremely painful because he kept tattoo-ing it over and over again. He mentioned he had to do this in order for the color to show on my complexion so I thought this was normal. The healing process was disgusting. I called and asked to speak to him personally regarding how it healed. When I explained the situation he responded with "Ma'am just tell me the problem, I have way too many people coming in here to remember you." I explained the state of the tattoo. He told me that he warns all his clients before tattooing that getting tattoos in red always have a risk of healing badly. I was absolutely NOT told this!! I asked for the tattoo in red and no one ever mentioned any risks with the color red, especially him!!! I am a darker complexion, so I would've definitely avoided red if I had been told by anyone, if I had the slightest knowledge about this. I even asked if the color would show well on my skin and he told me yes!! I bled ink and blood horribly, my tattoo leaked out of the tape he put within 3 hours. I limped the first few days after getting it, it hurt incredibly bad. (Yes, I followed all of the aftercare instructions, including removing the tape as soon as it was breached). The tattoo looked less like a tattoo and more like I was branded or badly burned. I had to get the tattoo re-done again in black after some time. My current artist told me that whoever originally did it basically mutilated me and damaged my skin over and over. (And that he remembers all of his clients tattoos when he does them). Even now I am having to go back in and get it re-done because the skin was so badly damaged that he's afraid how it will react if he goes any deeper in some spots of the tattoo.
Overall, it was a waste of $140 dollars. The artist was very rude, I was never verbally informed about anything, and when I called weeks later his attitude was still sour. I emailed a photo of the tattoo before calling but never received a response. Not from the owner or anyone.
As an artist, please learn how to speak to the clients that put their trust in you.
